A SICK hoax sparked royal panic after a message on a fake WhatsApp group claimed the Queen had died of a “heart attack”.
The distasteful prank, said to be from a group chat of the Queen’s guards, claimed the Queen had died of a “heart attack” – but she was pictured alive and well today.
The group chat, which was shared thousands of times, went viral on Twitter last night and #queendead was still trending this evening.
In the chat, an individual nicknamed ‘Gibbo’ forwarded a message which claimed the Queen had died from a heart attack on Sunday morning and her death would be announced at 9.30am today.
Charlie Proctor, the editor-in-chief of the news website Royal Central, was quick to dismiss the “vicious rumours” – and the Queen was spotted leaving Windsor Castle this afternoon.
He said: “Vicious rumours claiming that The Queen died on Sunday morning are being shared on social media.
“In this latest ‘fake news’ pandemic, an anonymous account claimed that the 93-year-old monarch died on Sunday morning, with a media blackout being in place until Monday morning.
“In actual fact, Her Majesty is enjoying a good night of sleep in anticipation of her next big engagement on Tuesday where she will host President Trump and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace for a NATO reception.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “We wouldnt comment on rumours and speculation.”
This is not the first time vile rumours have spread about the Queen’s death which have turned out to be false.
In 2016 a sick spoof of the BBC news Twitter account sent people into panic after announcing her death in late December.
